Watauga native Baron Fenwick will be performing Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto (Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major) with the Western Piedmont Symphony under the direction of John Gordon Ross, which is the last event in the WPS Masterworks Series. The concert will take place on Saturday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the P.E. Monroe Auditorium on the Lenoir-Rhyne University campus in Hickory.
“I’m thrilled to play with Maestro Ross and the WPS,” Baron says. “It completes a circle for me since I played Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D major with the WPS Youth Symphony back in 7th grade, along with many other fond memories playing violin in the Youth Symphony that year.” Tickets for the concert are available at the WPS website: wpsymphony.org.
Baron is a 23-year-old graduate student of piano performance at The Mannes School of Music in New York City studying with renowned musicians Vladimir Feltsman and Pavlina Dokovska. But his roots are firmly planted here in the High Country beginning with private lessons at age 5 from Mrs. Lisa Brown and attending Green Valley School.
He began studying with Dr. Bair Shagdaron at ASU as a 9 year old and wowed audiences for many years at the Watauga Education Foundation’s Shooting Stars talent showcase. Baron attended the NC School of the Arts for two years before taking private lessons with acclaimed pianist Susan Starr in Philadelphia, PA.
Piano pursuits take Baron around the world including festivals in California, New York, Florida, Switzerland, Austria, China, and France this upcoming summer. He has won numerous competitions and awards including the Dorothy Mackenzie Award at the 2016 International Keyboard Institute and Festival, a career grant from the prestigious organization Salon de Virtuosi, and the 2015 William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition.
Baron has played with many orchestras including the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, South Carolina Philharmonic, Hudson Valley Philharmonic (NY), and Flint Symphony Orchestra (MI). He has accumulated a number of concert appearances at impressive venues including Carnegie Hall, the Frick Collection, the Hungarian Consulate in NYC, Bohemian National Hall and the NC Governor’s Mansion.
Baron is the oldest son of Jay Fenwick and Cindy Norris of Todd, NC.
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